Member Article

Can Businesses Profit From Data Quality

We often refer to business data as an asset. Something as prized as data is important for every function in an organisation, so it’s easy to see why it’s so valuable, and vital. On our blog, we’ve discussed ways that clean data can make an organisation more efficient, and therefore more profitable. And we know that clean data cuts waste.

But data is not just an asset internally. Some businesses actually deal in data. They trade it, sell it and market it to other businesses. This kind of activity requires pristine data quality and a commitment to continuous management.

Profiting from data is not simple, though, and businesses are learning that there are boundaries. Before advancing plans to turn data into riches, there are some basics that must be considered first.

Selling and Accumulating Data

Organisations that sell data have had some bad press recently. Perhaps the biggest scandal can be accredited to the NHS, which has sold private patient data unlawfully to insurance companies and researchers. The NHS still sells patient data, but it now has to be clear about its motives, selling data only when patients are sure to benefit from the activity.

There are less controversial reasons for buying and selling data. Some businesses buy in marketing lists containing prospective customers. There are various reasons for this; their own database may have suffered data quality problems, or they may have struggled to build a list at all. While buying lists is a valid tactic for new and established organisations, care must be taken to be selective about their provider, and realistic about the returns and pitfalls.

From these two examples, you’d be forgiven for thinking that bigger is better: more data means better chance of getting a sale. But that isn’t the case. The more data you have, the bigger the potential risk, and the higher the cost of management will be. This is why turning a profit is so tricky, and why data quality comes into play.

Making Sense

Big Data has been hailed as a way to improve business efficiency and react more effectively to the world around us. It has ushered in the Internet of Things, a technology where every part in a machine, or in a factory, can potentially generate data. We have the option of storing all of that data and using it for analysis or profit.

The cost of managing this data has to be offset against the potential money that is made. Look at Facebook’s data centres; the social network has them dotted all around the globe, and one of it’s biggest challenges is to cool its tens of thousands of servers naturally, to avoid spending millions on power. Facebook and Google are leading the way in eco-friendly cooling technology, using icy air and electricity generated by the movement of water. They do everything they can to manage cost so that their main business remains profitable.

There’s also an element of financial risk from compliance problems or hacking, particularly where personal data is concerned. In the EU, every business that holds data on an individual must be prepared to reveal it, and they must handle it in a responsible way.

And while some use of data may be legal under the terms of its privacy policy, it could be considered unethical, and that might be brand suicide. In some cases, consumers might simply take a dislike to the way their personal information is used; remember the free U2 album that was beamed to every iTunes account without the user’s permission? That’s a fairly trivial example of access to data being used without consent.

Making Money

Businesses are keen to find new ways to make money from data. Every day, they have more of it. There’s certainly potential there. Every business needs a business plan and a clear destination, cleared by the right legal backing. They need to make sure their efforts do not detract from their main business activity, or risk placing their business in an uncomfortable position if data is misused or distrusted.

Small businesses sometimes look to rent out their own marketing databases, or look to sell them, but this is a potential minefield when it comes to data quality and data protection law. Not only is there an obligation to the customer to treat their data with care, there’s an obligation to the purchaser of the list to ensure it still contains up to date records.

This leads us to an inevitable conclusion. Whenever we talk about monetising something, accuracy comes into stark focus. Data cannot be monetised if it is not accurate, complete and free of duplicates. It is worthless if it cannot be relied upon; we see that in our own businesses, just as we see it in our interactions as consumers. Care needs to be taken to sell only the right data, at the right time, and for the right reason.

Risks and Returns

Regardless of the potential risk of data monetisation, we can be sure that data has value, and its value increases as its quality improves. Even if a business chooses not to market its data, there will always be a benefit to its own ROI if the data is well maintained.

Investing in data management may seem like a cost, but for most organisations, it will pay dividends. As we collect more data about more people, and we store and share that data in different ways, the onus is on the business to look for safe ways to monetise, without exploiting data or using data that is unsuitable for sale.

With data quality tools as part of their arsenal, there are more and more opportunities for businesses to sell, rent and recycle in an evolving data landscape.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Doyle .